Snap-hook.



PATENT-ED OCT. 11, .1904.

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v SNAP HOOK. APPLICATION FILED JAN 15, 1904.

N0 MODEL.

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wifgcs scs I UNITED STATES Patented October 11, 1904.

WELBY D. 'l-VEIR, OF WINSBORO, TEXAS.

SNAP-HOOK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 771,956, dated. October 11, 1904.

Application filed January 15, 1904. Serial No. 189,161. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WELBY D. WEIR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Winsboro, in the county of Wood and State of Texas, have invented a new and useful Snap- Hook, of which the following is a specification. 7

This invention relates to snap-hooks employed in connection with harness and for similar purposes, and has for its object to provide an improved and simplified structure whereby the cost of manufacture is reduced and the strength and durability increased; and the invention consists in certain novel features of construction, as hereinafter shown and described, and specified in the claims.

In the drawings illustrative of the invention, in which corresponding parts are denoted by like designating characters, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved device. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional side elevation. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, illustrating a modification in the construction. Fig. 4 is a transverse section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 represents a perspective view, enlarged, of a portion of the frame, illustrating the connection of the bolt-guideway. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the locking-bolt detached. Fig. 7 represents a slight modification in the construction.

The improved device consists of a body portion 10, having at one end a loop 11 of any desired form for receiving the holding strap or rope and at the other end a hook 12, with a contracted inlet 13, as shown. The body portion is provided with a relatively large internal cavity 14, which may extend entirely through the body portion, as in Figs. 3 and 4, or only partially, as in Fig. 2. Extending longitudinally of the body portion opposite the free end 15 of the hook is. a guideway 16,-having a contracted channel or slot 17 extending laterally therefrom and communicating with the exterior of the member 10 and of less length than the main cavity 14,- whereby a shoulder'18 is formed intermediately of the channel, as shown more clearly in Fig. 2. A bolt (represented at 19) is slidably disposed in the guideway 16 and adapted when projected to form a bar across the entrance 13 to the hook 12.

The portion of the recess 16 in advance of the shoulder 18 is wider vertically than the portion in the rear of theshoulder, so that the bolt can be elevated with its rear end bearing against the shoulder, as in Fig. 2, and can thus be released only when depressed, as hereinafter explained. The bolt 19 will be provided with an operating-knob 21,having a longitudinallyelongated shank movable in the contracted channel 17 Formed in the inner faces of the sides of the-cavity 14 are recesses 22 23, in'which one end of a spring 24 rests and secured in place by forcibly compressing the member 10 opposite the recesses. The other end of the spring rests in a socket or cavity 25 in the bolt 19, as shown, and thereby exerts its force in two directions upon the bolt to maintain it normally and yieldably projected against the end 15 of the hook 12 and also outwardly, with the inner end of the bolt 19 in advance of the shoulder 18. By this means it will be obvious that the bolt is locked from rearward movement unless depressed to release the rear end of the bolt from the shoulders 18. The bolt 19 may be provided with a supplemental recess 26, in which the free end of the spring 24 may be caused to rest when an increased strength of the spring is required.

The body portion 10 will be constructed of malleable metal, preferably of iron, so that the hook portion 12 may be bent laterally to permit the bolt 19 to be inserted into the guideway 16 and then restored to its former symmetrical condition. Forming the body portion of malleable metal also proyides for the compression of the sides to secure the lower end of the spring 24, as before described.-

By this simple arrangement of parts it will be obvious that a very cheap, simple, and convenient snap-hook is produced, strong and durable, and being composed of only two parts besides the spring it is not liable to become dis arranged or otherwise rendered non-effective.

1f preferred, the device may be constructed without the locking-shoulder 18, as shown in Fig. 7; but thiswould not be a departure from the principle of the invention, and the device may also be modified in other minor particulars without departing from the principle of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is- 1. In a snap-hook, a body portion having an internal cavity and compressible sides, and with recesses extending laterally from said cavity, a bolt slidable in said body portion, and a spring disposed within said cavity with one end engaging said bolt and the other end Within said lateral recesses and secured in place by the compression of said sides thereon.

2. In a snap-hook, a body portion having a guideway opposite the free end of the hook and with a contracted longitudinal channel communicating therewith, said guideway having intermediate stop-shoulders, a bolt slidable in said guideway, and engaging said shoulders when the bolt is projected, and a spring operating to maintain said bolt yieldably in its projected position and likewise yieldably in locked engagement with said intermediate shoulders.

3. A snap-hook, comprising a body terminating in a hook with a cavity in that end of the body which is adjacent the hook, the walls of the cavity being compressible and provided with corresponding internal grooves, a bolt working in the cavity, and a spring having one end fitted in the grooves with the walls of the cavity compressed thereon to fasten said end of the spring, the opposite free end of the spring being engaged with the bolt to hold the same yieldably projected.

4. A snap-hook having a body terminating in a hook and provided with aguideway leading to said hook, the outer portion of the guideway being enlarged to produce an intermediate internal shoulder, a bolt working in the guideway capable of being moved laterally in the enlarged portion of the guideway into and out of engagement with the shoulder and normally occupying the enlarged portion of the guideway in engagement with the shoulder, and a bowed spring housed within the body, one end of the spring-being connected to the body and the opposite free end thereof being connected to the bolt and yieldably holding the latter within the enlarged portion of the guideway.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

C. V. WEIR, W. M. PIERsoN. 

